Gen. Mark Welsh III is soft-spoken, but you want to hear every word he says.
Described as an inspirational speaker and a charismatic leader, Welsh is President Obama’s nominee to become the next Air Force chief of staff/.../
If he is approved by the Senate, Welsh will face three major challenges as chief: budget, budget and budget, said Mark Gunzinger, who served as a senior adviser to the Air Force for the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.
“With the procurement of the F-35 and the new tanker and the new bomber all coinciding, [they are] going to be some significant tradeoffs that may have to be made over the next decade to afford that,” said Gunzinger, who works at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank in Washington.
Facing resistance from Congress over plans to cut spending, the Air Force needs to develop a coherent vision for its future to show lawmakers why new and emerging threats require making new capabilities a priority over existing ones, Gunzinger said.